Case File 004 - Trigonometric Functions


Trigonometric Functions are quite useful when modeling repetitive changes. One example is with temperature. Since the average temperature of a location will generally repeat itself annually, most cities can have their temperatures modeled as trigonometric functions.

For this example, we'll take a look at the temperature changes in Atlantic City. Temperature changes in Atlantic City are best modeled by the equation:




Using this information, we can use the trigonometric derivative rules to solve for the derivative function.


Using this function, we can determine the monthly temperature change at any given month. For example, let's find the temperature change for April. Since April is 3 months from our first month (January), we'll input 3 into the function.



This means that, in April, the temperature is changing by 74892 degrees per month.